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for Dalarna where he and the people had promised each other allegiance, then
he went to Västmanland, where the people summoned to the "tingsplats"
expressed their support and allegiance, then to Uppland where Engelbrecht
and the people promised each other allegiance, then to Östergötland, where
the procedure was repeated, and then to Västergötland where he was honored
by the people, then to Halland (the part which at that time was identified
with Götaland and Sweden). All this occurred in the end of the summer 1434.
In January 1435 a diet appointed Engelbrecht as captain for the Swedish
realm, and as such he that year negotiated with the union-king - with poor
result. In response to demands from the country a new diet was summoned in
1436 where Engelbrecht was elected king. As king he requested the people in
Stockholm to swear allegiance. The Stockholmians had to choose between a
battle and a new king, and accepted the new king.
During the 16th century a lot of land was taken by the state from parishes
and convents. These lands were then often transferred to the nobility,
particularly from 1567 to 1680, which had important consequences for the
peasants. Tenant farmers on state property could be forced to do extra work
in addition to the law-regulated taxes, which was a less favorable situation
than for farmers owning their own land, but farmers on land sold/given to
nobel masters had additionally lost their right to participation in the
elections of peasant representatives at the diets.
Works (bruksorter) is the contrasting element, organized in much as a
manorial estate, where the owner had the duty to act as a good master in a
strictly hierarchical household. The works was a closed society, taking
responsibility for the people living there from the cradle to the grave.
United the people could express their wishes and propositions, and a wise
master would not act against the best of the people. But the power was his.
The rules of order at democratic meetings got changed in the 19:th century.
The villages were split, many farmers' houses were moved away from the
village, each farm got it's field separated from the others, and the village
meeting became obsolete. The traditions from the higher assemblies, where
the majority ruled, were found fit for the parishes also, particularly when
these came to grow due to the urbanization. With the Free Churches, the
Temperance movement and the workers unions foreign influences were added to
the old traditions.
Today fairness and equality are important parts of the order at a meeting.
The word is given to speakers in the order they have asked for it, no-one is
to be unfairly favored. The assembly and the chair are not supposed to
interrupt the speaker, unless he/she breaks any decided rules (as a time
limit) or humiliates others. All who wish to speak are entitled to do so
prior to the voting, all are entitled to put propositions forward, all
propositions are to be equally handled (almost!), and in case of the
majority taking a position one feel impossible to take responsibility for,
then all are entitled to get ones dissentient opinions taken to the records.
But still traces of the unanimity tradition is visible in the attitude that
people who suspect they belong to a minority should better not utter their
opinion - to the best of all - in order to reinforce the feeling of unity
and unanimity. ...and after a decision all participants are expected to
advocate the opinion of the majority - whatever they thought before.
------------------------------
Subject: 7.3 History
A brief chronicle is to find in the sections 7.3.3-7.3.7.
7.3.1 A chronology of important dates
829 The German bishop Ansgar introduces Christianity to Sweden.
1004 (ca)
Olof Skötkonung was baptized, and made Christianity the official
religion of Sweden. Several pagan kings followed him, though.
1104 With the first bishop of Lund, Scandinavia was made a separate church
province, no longer belonging to Hamburg.
1155 Securing (conquering) of Finland for Catholicism.
1164 A separate arch-bishopric for Sweden was instituted in Uppsala. Until
1152 the archbishop in the Scanian town Lund in Denmark had been the
primate for all of Norden.
1187 Estonians invade and burn Sigtuna.
13th century
The Scanian Law is written down 1210. In the 1220:ies also the Swedish
provinces (landskap) start to write down their landskapslagar. 1240 the
movement has reached Västergötland, and Äldre Västgötalagen is written
down.
1226 Falu copper mine is opened.
1250 Stockholm becomes the capital, after Birka and Sigtuna, founded by
Birger Jarl, earl of Sweden and 1250-1266 guardian for the under age
king Valdemar.
1285 The Swedish king Birger (Ladulås) claims supremacy over Gotland.
1293 Viipuri is established at/as the eastern border of Sweden.
1306 King Birger is imprisoned by his brothers duke Valdemar and duke Erik,
the so called Håtunaleken.
1317 King Birger imprisons his brothers, attempting to let them starve to
death, the so called Nyköpings gästabud, but is forced to escape out of
the country.
1319-1343
Personal union with Norway under king Magnus Eriksson.
1332-1361
Scania, Blekinge & Gotland ruled by the Swedish king after the Scanian
Archbishop and magnates had elected Magnus Eriksson, the king of Sweden
to become also king of the Scanian provinces.
1335 Slavery was abolished.
1344 St. Birgitta (1303-1373), Sweden's most important medieval saint,
starts to write down her Heavenly Revelations and decides to start a
convent in Vadstena. The Brigittine Order exists even today in many
countries.
1350 The Black Death (the Plague)
The first Swedish national law replaced the local landskapslagar.
1361 The Danish king Valdemar Atterdag conquers Gotland.
1397-1521
The Nordic kingdoms are united as the "Kalmar Union", led by Denmark.
1477 Uppsala university founded; the oldest university in the Nordic
countries.
1520 Stockholm blood bath.
1521 Gustav Vasa is elected regent.
1523 Gustav Vasa is elected king of Sweden.
1526 The New Testament and hymnal is printed in the Swedish language - 1541
is the whole Bible ready.
1527 Reformation decided at the diet of Västerås. (Being able to collect
taxes from the Church and pay off national debts had a lot to do with
it).
1542 Nils Dacke leads a rebellion in Småland.
1561 Estonia surrenders to Sweden.
1568 King Erik is imprisoned, and 1577 poisoned.
1593 Lutheranism is confirmed by a Church meeting in Uppsala.
1594-99
The Catholic Sigismund inherits the throne, Sweden in personal union
with Poland.
1600 Linköping's blood bath.
1613 Sweden pays ransom for the fort at Älvsborg, where 1619 Gothenburg is
founded.
1617 Sweden gets the Kexholm province and Ingria ("Ingermanland") in the
peace of Stolbova with Russia.
1629 Poland cedes Livonia to Sweden in the peace of Altmark.
1632 The university in Dorpat is founded.
Gustav II Adolf is killed in the battle of Lützen.
1640 The university in Åbo is founded.
1645 Sweden gets Gotland, Ösel (Saaremaa), Jämtland and Härjedalen from
Denmark in the peace of Brömsebro.
1648 In the peace treaty of Westphalia, Sweden wins the German territories
(Vorpommern, Rügen, Stettin, Wismar, and Bremen-Verden) and becomes a
major power.
1658 The peace treaty of Roskilde gives Sweden Bohuslän and the Scanian
provinces of Skåne, Blekinge and Halland. Bornholm is returned to
Denmark after an uprising 1660. The Swedish territory of today is
thereby collected.
1668 The university in Lund is founded.
1671-1675
Nobel masters have right to sentence their employees.
1676 The battle at Lund
1679 Gotland is annected by Sweden.
1697 The Stockholm Castle ("Three Crowns") burns down.
1700-21
The Great Northern War, with the battles at Narva 1700 and Poltava
1709. Sweden loses most of the German and all of the Baltic
territories. The power shifts from the king to the estates.
1742 The estates confirm the democratic forms for decisions at the village
meeting.
Celsius designs a thermometer.
1757 Storskifte, first reform of Swedish farming decided.
1766 The liberty of Press and "Offentlighetsprincipen" was declared as
constitution.
1771 Scheele discovers oxygen.
1772 Gustav III performs a coup and restores absolute monarchy.
1773 Torture is abolished in Sweden.
1778 Freedom of religion for aliens.
1790-91
Bellman publishes Fredman collections.
1792 Gustav III is assassinated at a masked ball.
1807 Enskifte, grand reform of Swedish farming decided. Villages were split
into separate farms, so farmers came to live closer to their land, more
distant from their neighbors.
1808-09
The War of Finland: the whole of Finland (extended also by a part of
the Swedish county Norrbotten) was joined to Russia. A new constitution
is written that puts an end to autocracy. "Offentlighetsprincipen" and
freedom of press get restored.
1810 One of Napoleon's generals, Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, is elected as the
heir to throne. Despite this Sweden joins the British-led anti-Napoleon
alliance. In 1818, he becomes king Carl XIV Johan.
1810-1832
Göta Kanal is built across Sweden from Söderköping to Gothenburg.
1814-1905
Personal-union between Norway and Sweden.
1841 The parish meetings are reformed by law. It's settled that also
craftsmen, tradesmen and industrial workers should have right to vote
(if they earn enough).
1842 A national compulsory public education system, "Folkskolan", is
introduced, and is to be administrated by the parishes, followed 1843
by law on municipal self rule.
1845 Daughters get equal rights as sons to inherit land.
1848 The first Swedish Free Church congregation and baptizing.
1853 Electric telegraph between Stockholm and Uppsala.
1856 Railroad between Örebro and Ervalla.
1858 The prohibition of religious meetings in the absence of a state church
priest is abolished. 1860 it became allowed for Swedish citizens to
switch religious affiliation from the State Church to certain other
approved (Christian) Churches.
1859 Feminist pioneer Fredrika Bremer publishes Hertha.
1864 The estates refuse to live up to the promise by the king to support
Denmark when attacked by Prussia.
The obligation to yearly communion is abolished.
1866 The parliament is reformed. The system of the four estates is abandoned
and a new system of two chambers is introduced. The right to vote
remains dependent on income and gender.
1871 The parish meeting is reformed, majority decisions are enforced instead
of the former tradition of consensus, disciplinary matters are to be
decided by a committee.
1873-1914
Nordic currency and postal union.
1878 The metric system is introduced.
1896 Hjalmar Branting is elected the first Social Democrat in parliament.
1901 First Nobel Prize award.
The universal military service is organized. All men become trained for
defense of the country.
1902 Railroad from Narvik at the Norwegian coast to Kiruna where iron ore
mines get exploit.
1905 Norway declares itself independent of the Swedish king.
1906 Major spelling reform.
1907 Men get equal rights to vote.
1909 Strike by 300'000 Swedish workers, but no revolution.
1913 Law on public pension.
1918 A Swedish troop of 600 man intervene on Åland, attempting to mediate
when the civil war of Finland led to Finnish troops fighting on Åland.
The Finnish and Swedish troops leave after a German fleet had
approached.
1919 Law on eight hours workday (six days a week).
1921 Women get rights to vote equal to men.
1923 A proposition to prohibit alcoholic beverages is narrowly defeated in a
referendum.
1948 Count Folke Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Jewish
terrorist organization (lead by Yitzhak Shamir) when mediating between
Jews and Arabs.
1951 General right for members of the state Church to submit one's
resignation. General freedom of religion for Swedish citizen.
1953 A Swedish computer, BESK, is for a time the fastest in the world.
1957 A referendum supports a Social Democratic proposal for mandatory
participation in a retiring allowance scheme with minimal funds. The
alternative was a voluntary funding system. 40 years later a mandatory
funding system is decided.
1961 ?
The aircraft of Dag Hammarskjöld, the UN secretary general, is shot
down during mediating in Africa.
1971 The Riksdag becomes unicameral. The king loses his political influence
(including. formation of the cabinet). Parliamentarism is written into
the constitution.
1979 Referendum says nuclear power is to be liquidated.
1981 A Russian submarine runs aground in the Blekinge archipelago.
1986 The prime minister Olof Palme is assassinated Feb 28.
April 26th nuclear radiation is discovered outside of the nuclear plant
Forsmark to the north of Stockholm. After some time it turns out to
come from Ukraine, but large areas of Sweden are struck, with slaughter
of reindeers and restrictions against using wild berries and mushrooms
for many following years.
1994 The ferry Estonia sank in Åland's sea. About 900 drowned.
A referendum supports joining of the European Union.
As of January 1st 1995 Sweden became a full member of the EU.
7.3.2 A list of Swedish monarchs
the late viking age:
ca 990 Erik (the victorious)
ca 995-1020 Olof Skötkonung, baptized as a Christian in 1008
ca 1019-50 Anund Jakob
competing magnates:
ca 1050-60 Emund den gamle (the old)
ca 1160 Stenkil
ca 1066-80 Halsten
ca 1080 Blotsven
ca 1080-1110 Inge the elder
ca 1110-18 Filip
ca 1118-20 Inge the younger
ca 1130 Ragnvald
ca 1135-56 Sverker the elder
ca 1158-60 Erik IX den helige (St. Eric)
1160-67 Karl VII Sverkersson
1167-96 Knut Eriksson
1196-1208 Sverker Karlsson the younger
1208-16 Erik X Knutsson
1216-22 Johan Sverkersson
1222-29 Erik XI Eriksson läspe och halte (lisp and limp)
1229-34 Knut Holmgersson den långe (the long)
1234-49 Erik XI Eriksson läspe och halte (lisp and limp)
1250-66 Birger Jarl, earl (regent) of Sweden
1250-75 Valdemar Birgersson, under age until 1266
1275-90 Magnus Birgersson Ladulås
1290-1318 Birger Magnusson, under age until 1298
1290-1317 Duke Erik Magnusson (regent)
1319-64 Magnus Eriksson, under age until 1332.
1363-89 Albrekt av Mecklenburg
the Kalmar Union:
1389-1412 Margareta (regent of the Kalmar Union)
1412-34 Erik of Pommerania (king of the Kalmar Union)
1434-36 Engelbrecht (king of Sweden)
1436-40 Karl Knutsson (king of Sweden)
1441-48 Kristoffer of Bavaria (king of the Kalmar Union)
1448-57 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden)
1457-64 Kristian I (king of the Kalmar Union 1448-1481)
1464 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden)
1464-66 Erik Axelsson (regent of Sweden)
1466-70 Karl Knutsson (regent of Sweden)
1471-97 Sten Sture the elder (regent of Sweden)
1497-1501 Hans (king of the Kalmar Union 1481-1513)
1501-03 Sten Sture the elder (regent of Sweden)
1504-11 Svante Nilsson Sture (regent of Sweden)
1512-20 Sten Sture the younger (regent of Sweden)
1520-21 Kristian II (king of the Kalmar Union 1513-1523)
Vasa:
1521-23 Gustav Eriksson Vasa (regent of Sweden)
1523-60 Gustav I Vasa (king of Sweden)
1560-68 Erik XIV [ dethroned ]
1568-92 Johan III
1592-99 Sigismund III Vasa of Poland and Sweden [ dethroned ]
1599-1600/1604 Johan, under age [ abdicated 1604 ]
1600-1611 Karl IX
1611-32 Gustav II Adolf
1632-54 Kristina, under age until 1644 [ abdicated ]
Pfalz:
1654-60 Karl X Gustav
1660-97 Karl XI, under age until 1672
1697-1718 Karl XII
1719-20 Ulrika Eleonora [ abdicated ]
1720-51 Fredrik I
Holstein-Gottorp:
1751-71 Adolf Fredrik
1771-92 Gustav III
1792-1809 Gustav IV Adolf, under age until 1796 [ dethroned ]
1809-18 Karl XIII
Bernadotte:
1818-44 Karl XIV Johan
1844-59 Oscar I
1859-72 Karl XV
1872-1907 Oscar II
1907-50 Gustaf V
1950-73 Gustaf VI
1973- Karl XVI Gustaf
7.3.3 the medieval time
500-700
Germanic expansion through Scandinavia. Svenonians ("Svear") come to play a
dominating role, and the Goths ("Götar") a subordinate role.
800-1050
Viking age. It was a prosperous period. Swedish Vikings traveled trading fur
and slave to Russia, Byzantium and all the way down to the Arab caliphate at
Baghdad. The kingdom of Svears gets a leading position, at least they get
best known abroad, its capital is in Gamla ("Old") Uppsala. Svea-Vikings
possibly inhabited also Åland and coastal areas in Finland and Norrland.
11th century
Sweden becomes Christian, and the country is united into a single kingdom.
Due to pressure from the mighty Danish kingdom, the warring landscapes of
Sweden settle into an uneasy truce and start to elect a king to rule them as
one kingdom. This kingdom was often called the "Svea kingdom", because
traditionally this was the only stable entity and the only kingdom that
foreigners had heard of. 1076 Bishop Adam of Bremen writes the history of
the bishopric of Hamburg, describing the christianization of Sweden, which
is one of our main sources to the early history of Scandinavia.
1050-1397
Sweden is ruled by kings elected by the nobility - most of the time from two
rival dynasties. The title king of the Svears did however not give much
power. Neither among the Svears nor in more distant parts of the country.
The forces of particularism were very strong during the first centuries and
often there would be two or three claimants to the throne engaged in civil
war.
This time is characterized by the power being divided on so many local
magnates assuring no individual command too much power, and becoming a
threat against the other magnates. A suitable king could well be chosen from
Götaland, perhaps because that person would find it hard to make his power
be felt in Svealand.
Formerly kings were elected by each "landsting" (that was a combined court
and law-giving meeting of the free men in a province). In 1319 the peasantry
is officially, but not in practice, again participating in an election of
king.
1152 a papal cardinal refuse to organize a separate Swedish archdiocese
tired of the quarrel between Götar and Svear, who couldn't agree on one of
the two alternatives Linköping in Östergötland or Uppsala in Uppland.
Sweden conquers the Finnish woods for Catholicism through a series of
"crusades". The plains in southern Finland of today, Åland and most of the
coast on both side of the Bothnic sea is believed to have been colonized by
Svears already. (After the first crusade 1155 Uppland was rewarded with the
archdiocese.) Finland is not yet participating in the elections of kings.
The dominance in the Baltics by the Gutar from Gotland island is competed by
the Germans, who from 1161has an agreement with the Gutar. The situation for
Götar and Svear is not improved, but Gotland gets weaker, with civil war in
the end of the 13:th century, and defeat under the Danish king Valdemar
Atterdag 1361. Swedish kings had ambitions to rule also over Gotland, but
the Gutar were not too interested.
The first one to yield such power that he could issue grants of land in both
Götaland and Svealand (showing that he had territorial power), was Knut
Eriksson (late 12:th century). In his early days this son of Erik the saint
used the title king of Götaland, but after coming out on top in a civil war
he also called himself king of Svealand and also used the titles together.
Before his days the king can be said to have wielded power only with the
consent of the local upper class.
1248 at the church meeting in Skänninge (in Östergötland), on demand from
the catholic pope, the Swedish church introduces celibacy for priests, and
the priests should now be appointed by the bishop. Earlier, priests were
elected by their parish and they married.
15th century
After 1397 Sweden and Denmark (including Finland, Norway and Iceland) were
united in the Kalmar Union under the Danish queen Margarethe. Margarethe
never held the title Queen of Sweden, but was instead appointed as
"authorized agent" (Fru och fullmäktige av Sverige). This period is
characterized by struggle between the nobility, the commons and the
queen/king.
The union was a reaction against the strong influence German merchants had
around the Baltics, illustrated by a German being elected king in Sweden in
the late 14th century, but the union gets questioned both by the nobility,
when they are discontent, and by the commons, when they experience worsening
conditions. Germans continue to play a dominating role in towns and mining.
1434-36
A rebellion led by Engelbrecht is motivated by the king of the Kalmar union
breaking a promise not to change laws or taxes without asking the people. In
January 1435 a diet appointed Engelbrecht as captain for the Swedish realm,
and as such he negotiated with the union-king that year - with poor results.
In response to demands from the country the four estates were summoned to a
new diet in Arboga 1436; which decided to continue the rebellion.
Engelbrecht was elected king. But then the two higher estates (nobility and
clergy) chose to appoint another man as captain for the realm, while the two
lower estates supported Engelbrecht. The result: Engelbrecht being
assassinated, and succeeded by his allied the high-born Karl Knutsson Bonde,
Engelbrecht's "Marsk" (commander-in-chief), who then kills the most famous
supporters of Engelbrecht.
In the following years all four estates are participating in diets.
1449-1450
King Karl is crowned to king of Norway in opposition against the Danish king
Christian, who some months earlier had been elected king of Norway. (King
Christian I was the first in the Oldenburg dynasty, and since the crown of
Norway was to be inherited, the election was regarded as illegal by many
Scandinavian magnates.) 1450 Karl Knutsson is forced by the Swedish state
council to give up the Norwegian crown, after pressure from the Union king
in Denmark. The atrocities calm down after Karl Knutsson has devasted Scania
and put the towns Vä, Helsingborg and Lund to fire.
1463-71
Swedish peasants formed armies at many occasions, fighting the smaller but
professional troops of the union-king. The peasants were supported, and
often encouraged, by the separatists among the nobility. In 1471 the
election of a separatist as regent for Sweden led to a relative calmness.
1497
The national council tried to depose the separatist regent for Sweden who
declared he had been appointed by all of the people in Sweden through the
estates at the diet. The king of the union, king Hans of Denmark, hired an
army which vanquished the regents separatist army, but the national council
soon accepts the four estates as their in practice highest authority.
1520:ies
When the Danish king Christian II is coronated in Stockholm, he executed a
hundred men, burghers and noblemen, who belonged to the separatist
Sture-party. This so called Stockholm blood bath causes again a rebellion in
Sweden which is led by Gustaf Vasa.
With the help of the Hansa-city of Lübeck, Vasa defeats the Danes and is
elected king. The Kalmar Union ceases to exist. From 1544 the crown is to be
inherited. As a consequence of the civil war in Denmark 1533-36 the German
Hansa loses its strong influence over Scandinavia.
Reformation is confirmed by the diet of Västerås 1527. Sweden becomes
Lutheran and the Church is stripped of its riches.
One of the important consequences of the reformation is the obligation for
the parishes to engage a parish clerk responsible for educating the people
in reading the Bible and/or the catechism, and for the clergy to examine the
peasants yearly in their homes. Many also learned to write.
Gustav Vasa encouraged the mining leading to increased demand on workers
which was satisfied by internal migration - not the least from Finland.
7.3.4 the consolidation of the state
1560-1660
The construction of Sweden as a Great Power of Europe. The nobility fights
for its rights and privileges.
Gustaf Vasa's son, the mentally unstable Erik XIV, becomes king 1560, and in
1561 he starts Sweden's overseas conquests by capturing northern Estonia
from the Teutonic Knights.
During Erik's regime measures against corrupt sheriffs and despotic nobility
were prioritized, and a peasant army was organized (the first time in Europe
on the side of the authorities'). In 1563 the highest nobility, the Danish
king and the Duke Johan (of Åland and parts of Finland) had started a
combined war and coup d'etat. In despise for the peasants (and discontent at
the king) the noble general refuses to use peasant infantry in battle.
(Which saved the Danish army that time.)
King Erik XIV chose a commoner as chancellor, Jöran Persson, and 1568 Erik
married a common soldier's daughter Karin Månsdotter after unsuccessfully
courting e.g Elizabeth I of England and Mary Stuart of Scotland. The Swedish
nobility acts against Erik's plans wishing to get the king closer to them
through marriage with any of their daughters. In the same year his brother
Duke Johan, who had been pardoned after the coup 1563, turns against Erik
and imprisons him. The Duke becomes king Johan III and Erik, having been
sent from one prison to another for nine years, is finally poisoned in 1577
after several death sentences by the national council, however never
executed due to fear of the public reaction.
King Johan doesn't summon the peasantry to the next diets, declares commons
to be unfit as chancellors (Erik's chancellor Jöran Persson get severely
tortured before beheading) and pay back to the nobility by reliefs and more
privileges.
Immigration encouraged
Skillful smiths were recruited from what today is Belgium; Dutchmen were
recruited to build new towns, particularly Gothenburg; Scottish men were
hired as soldiers. The western parts of the kingdom, great uninhabited woods
around the sea Vänern, were colonized by skillful farmers from Savolax in
Finland encouraged by the kings brother Duke Karl (Duke of Dalarna and other
western parts of Svealand).
The Finns from western Finland, who came to work in Svealand's towns, mines,
industries and agriculture were soon integrated.
A popular tradition represented also in school books describes the relations
between the Swedes and the migrants from eastern Finland as violent.
Established historical science and official sources give no such
indications. The Savolaxians in the woods were isolated and remained
culturally different for hundreds of years (the migration was ended at 1680
when maybe 10'000 Finns had moved to the woods of western Svealand). The
annals from the courts give the impression of the Finns living in peaceful
co-existence with the Swedish peasants.
When the situation had settled after the Thirty Years' War Sweden's
territories were bigger than ever later or before. Inside the new realm
people came to move between the different parts. A policy of swedifying hit
the new provinces, maybe most in Scandinavia, including founding
universities and change of priests and some noble men. The year 1682 the
king decided that Finns had to learn Swedish or to return to Finland. This
official policy was however impossible to enforce in the distant woods, but
has remained until recent days.
1590-95
Sweden fights a smaller war with Russia that ends with the peace of Teusina
and the recognition of Sweden's right to northern Estonia.
1596-99
Civil war between king Sigismund of Poland and Sweden and his uncle, Duke
Karl. Most nobility supported the king, but Sigismund is kicked out, and the
Duke becomes king Karl IX. (Appointed by the estates 1600 although the
under-age crown prince Johan, son of king Johan III, rightfully stood closer
to the throne. Prince Johan abdicated 1604.) The brief personal union with
Poland is over. King Karl follows up on Erik's anti-feudal policy, while his
son Gustav II Adolf instead increase the privileges of the nobility for
instance by monopoly to army- and state-offices.
1630-48
Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) interferes in the Thirty Years' War
(1616-48) and Swedish troops fight in Russia, Poland, Austria and Germany.
The "Lion of the North" achieves legendary status as the defender of
Protestants, he receives crushing victories but his appetite for conquest
grows and eventually the king is killed in the battle of Lützen, 1632, after
which the war fortunes waded back and forth for the following 16 years.
Gustav's daughter Christina becomes queen; as she is still under age until
1644 the country is led by Sweden's perhaps most famous statesman Axel
Oxenstierna.
The year 1638 Sweden's American colony, "New Sweden" (in present day
Delaware) is founded and settled by Swedish and Finnish pioneers. The colony
remains in Swedish hands only for 17 years, and is lost to the Dutch.
1644-54
The reign of queen Christina, the daughter of Gustav II Adolf, was at the
same time one of favoring arts, culture, science and philosophy, and on the
other hand a period of continued expensive wars on the continent, which had
ruined Sweden's economy by raising hundreds of new families into nobility
who were exempted from taxation. This was more or less made undone by her
followers, her cousin king Karl X and his son Karl XI, in the second half of
the century.
The year 1654 the queen converts to Catholicism and gives up the crown. The
conversion of the daughter of the greatest enemy of Catholicism was a
brilliant propaganda victory for the Catholic counter-reformation. She
spends the rest of her life in Rome.
1675-79
Denmark declares war. King Karl XI, who newly have came to age, discovers
the great fleet and the state finances being ruined. Scania is taken back by
the Danes, then again conquered by the Swedes. The diet 1680 makes the state
council (representing the highest nobility), which was governing when the
king was under age, personally responsible for the bad state finances. The
diet also makes the king independent of the state council, and the diet also
accepted to hand over its lawgiving power to the king. The king Karl XI used
his dictatorship also for radical reforms of the state administration, the
Army and the education of the commoners. On later diets the nobility was
(collectively) forced to give back some of the land which had been given
them as reward for services to the State.
1680-1720
Successive incorporation of the Scanian provinces in the Swedish national
state. 1680 the province Blekinge is declared incorporated in Sweden in
connection with the construction of a navy base. 1682/83 the Scanian civil
and clerical laws were replaced by Swedish laws. 1693 Halland is
incorporated in Sweden.
1700-21
The Great Northern War. Sweden is attacked by an alliance of Denmark, Poland
and Russia. The young king Karl XII invades Denmark forcing it to accept a
separate peace. He then turns toward Russia, lands in Estonia with 10 000
men and achieves a glorious victory in the battle of Narva against a three
times larger Russian army.
With Russia and Denmark beaten, Karl XII ignores all suggestions of
negotiating peace and attacks Poland. This gives Peter I of Russia time to
raise a new army and to start reconquering the Swedish territories. Karl XII
eventually succeeds in subduing Poland, and starts a new campaign against
Russia heading for Moscow. The troops that were planned to come to aid the
main army, however, never manage to show up, and Karl is forced to turn
south to Ukraine because of problems with supply. There he suffers a
crushing defeat in the battle of Poltava June 28th 1709 and most of the
Swedish army surrenders while Karl XII manages to escape with a thousand men
to Turkey. He spent several years there trying to form a new alliance
against Russia.
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